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Shelley Martel's presentation to the Riding on the LHINs Legislation
by Valerie Westgate
On March 21, 2006, Shelley Martel, MPP and NDP critic for Health and Long Term Care, gave an insightful speech to a crowded hall about the slippery slope of Bill 36 and the new Liberal government's proposal to activate LHINs (Local Health Integration Networks) in communities.
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What are LHINs? According to Martel, they are hand-picked community boards set up by the government to administer local public health dollars. Although this may sound like it will give more local input on public health, Martel warns that that's an illusion.
Stacked w/ Government Appointees -- Under the guise of greater community input, the formation of LHINs furthers the Liberal government's agenda to make changes to health care services. Martel identified several problems within Bill 36 and the LHINS initiative. First, the LHINs board is a "creature of the government," with members appointed and paid as government representatives. In other words, members being selected are those who are aligned with the Liberal government's policy and will carry out their agenda.
LHINs have Exceptional Powers -- Another worrisome matter is the exceptional power given to the LHIN's board. In section 28 of this bill, boards are granted the power to seize health operations and shut them down or force amalgamation of services.
On the long list of complaints against this bill, The Alzheimers' Society vehemently opposed this section and questioned how a community board could shut down operations of a health care service that relies on partial funding from the government.
LHINs and Privatization -- After 2007, the LHIN's power will be extended to make decisions regarding privatizing non-essential services such as housekeeping and food services to private firms. This could have a very negative effect on health care standards, working conditions, and infection control. Privatization also opens up the practice of cut-throat bidding, euphemistically called competitive bidding, wherein the need for profits drives standards down, further chipping away at our once-prized public health care program. For example, we saw the consequences of this practice in the home care sector when the VON lost their contract despite 80 years experience. They lost to a group that had no previous work experience in this area. Benefits and pay have been drastically reduced, continuity of care has been interrupted and morale has sunk. The turnover rate is over 30% in this essential service.
LHINs will ultimately oversee 23 million dollars of public health care dollars under Bill 36. Martel and the NDP have spoken in opposition to Bill 36, and will continue to oppose any move to make public health care private. An audience member, Vince Maloney, pointed out that the Romanov Report clearly concluded that a private health care system cannot meet the same quality of health services as our public health care model. As we start to slide down the slippery slope that increasingly falls towards the U.S. model of health care, it is time to be ever-vigilant in protecting the Canadian jewel of a universal public health system.
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